Natural Grazing —Super-Natural Benefits

'Modern prairie'
boosts pasture production

David Schafer

To ensure a tight calving season, we try to follow grazing researcher
Jim Wiltbank's six principles for effective reproduction:

TRENTON,
Mo. –Like the Robert Frost poem, we've discovered that taking
the road less traveled "has made all the difference."
In the mid-'80s, we converted our cropland to pasture, and started
managing our livestock and forages more like the prairie ecosystem
that once grew here.

The difference has been a leap in biodiversity (especially legumes
and other desirable species), a longer grazing season and thicker
forage stands. Healthier forages have improved soil structure
and water retention, reducing erosion and making our farm less
susceptible to drought.

Our livestock are healthier and happier too. We have 70 purebred
Gelbvieh cows and run up to 40 stockers and 300 sheep on about
350 acres of pasture. That's about 50 percent more stock than
we carried before we subdivided pastures and intensified our management.

Choosing this different road has made our life simpler and our
problems fewer. We have time for community activities and travel,
and we don't need off-farm jobs. Alice, my partner and wife, sums
it up best: "Isn't this the greatest life!"

Harsh RealityLife wasn't always so sweet or simple. After growing up in
the city and pursuing urban careers, we welcomed the opportunity
to start farming my grandparents' land in 1980. Our original goal
was to become conventional superfarmers. We steadily increased
corn and oats yields during our first three years.

Then reality hit us hard. A simple soil-depth analysis revealed
that some of our best cropland had only 2 inches of topsoil left!
But there was a ray of hope. An adjacent hayfield still had 8
inches of topsoil. That amount was only half of what was there
originally, but the significance was clear. We laid two options
before the family farm corporation: Strip crop or put everything
into forages.

Big changes are hard to make. After strip cropping for two years,
we admitted it was just a band-aid solution for our farm. Our
land had no business being tilled. We finally made the right choice
and seeded down all the cropland.

About that time, we toured New Zealand. What an education! Farmers
there fatten lamb and beef, ship it thousands of miles, undersell
us, and still make a profit. They accomplish this feat by producing
high-quality forages through controlled grazing systems that depend
on intense management, subdivided pastures and frequent stock
moves.

Grain is too expensive there to feed it to livestock, yet their
meat tastes superb. We were amused when a New Zealand woman asked
us, "Don't you think grain-fed meat tastes, well funny?"

We came home inspired. We subdivided 40-acre pastures into 10-acre
paddocks, and rotated stock about once a week. Not much happened.

Density Yields DiversityWe didn't give up. We knew controlled grazing worked because
we had seen it in New Zealand. We took Stan Parsons' "Ranching
For Profit" course and became familiar with the work of his
former partner, Allan Savory. (See "Toolbox" in this
issue for details on Parsons' new home-study course) These two
men are largely responsible for bringing innovative range- and
pasture-management ideas to North America.

In Africa, Savory and Parsons observed that wild grazing herbivores
(unlike fenced farm animals) travel in large herds and stay close
together because of predators. They also roam constantly because
of the repugnance of their own wastes. As a result, forage is
closely cropped, then has a chance to regrow before being grazed
again.

If herbivores have clustered and migrated for millenia, then the
forages they graze must be adapted to that behavior. To bring
our deteriorating land closer to its natural prairie condition
(short of bringing back predators), we had to start managing livestock
to simulate the predators' effects.

So we subdivided more, cutting up pastures into 2- to 3-acre paddocks,
and increased stock density by putting 30 to 40 cows

at a time on these smaller paddocks. To mimic migration, we moved
them to new grass every day or two.

Because of these changes, our pastures are evolving into what
we call "modern prairie"–a more diverse, stable
and natural environment than found in traditionally managed pastures.

We've seen our pastures thicken with new plants, and found warm-season
grasses (such as big bluestem) volunteering in what used to be
solid tescue.

In a small cross section of our farm, we found more than 100 plant
species, not including trees. We planted just four of those, and
only a handful of the l00 aren't grazed at some growth stage by
our cattle, sheep or guard donkey. Each plant species taps a unique
array of nutrients, and provides a unique environment above and
below the soil, allowing other creatures to thrive.

Increasing the biodiversity of our land is an important goal for
us, because it is the foundation of our pasture productivity and
stability. Biodiversity– coupled with efficient reproduction
and value-added marketing leads us to more profit.

Flush When It's LushJust as we subdivided and increased stock density to imitate
natural predator effects, we also use nature as a guide for our
herd's genetic and reproductive management. Our breeding season
matches the growing season. We don't feed grains to boost reproductive
performance. Females are expected to breed during the spring burst
of forage growth. If a cow isn't bred to calve between March 1
and April 30–for whatever reason–we sell her. She apparently
isn't well-adapted to our environment and management.

Heifers weigh nearly two-thirds
of their mature weight at breeding.

Cows have a body condition score
of 5 at calving.

Cows are gaining weight two weeks
before breeding.

Calves are removed for 48 hours
breeding to stimulate estrus.

Calving season is 60 days.

Bulls are checked annually for fertility
and libido.

We used to reason that the earlier
calves are born, the higher their weaning weights. So our herd
calved in January and

February.
Cows were lactating and being bred while still on hay–a very
costly practice.

It makes much more sense to match the breeding season–when
a cow is at her peak nutritional demand –with the time when
pasture nutrition is also at its peak. So now we flush the cows
on our lushest grass in mid-May, and then turn in the bulls.

We used to accelerate estrus by separating calves from their mothers
for 48 hours beginning the day the bulls are turned in. You can't
buy a better, more natural estrus stimulant: But since most of
our cows are already cycling by breeding time, we have discontinued
this practice. Most years, about 75 percent of our cows conceive
during their first estrus cycle and calve during the first 21
days of the calving season. Only a handful remain unbred after
two cycles.

Cycling within such a tight period, the cows' nutritional needs
rise and fall together, simplifying nutrition management. Calving
chores are easier too. The days of checking, weighing and tagging
newborn calves are concentrated into a short season. At weaning,
the calves are nearly the same age, so there are no runts to get
bossed around. And at marketing, a uniform group of calves is
more valuable–as well as a beautiful sight to behold.

How To Track
Pasture Production

The vast majority of our forage
production comes during just three months. The big challenge
of livestock production is to ration out that spring and fall
growth over the entire year. We use several planning tools to
make the job easier.

Stan Parsons designed the grazing
chart we use. (Contact: Ranch Management Consultants. 7719 Rio
Grande Blvd. N.W., Albuquerque NM 87107, (505) 898-7417.) Along
the left-hand side of the page we list the paddock identifications.
Running horizontally from each paddock ID are 365 boxes representing
the days of the year. Each day a paddock is grazed, we shade
in the corresponding box. The chart shows us at a glance how
long cattle grazed each paddock and how long it rested.

We record forage growth in each
paddock using our grass budget chart. Every 10 days we take an
enjoyable hike through all 63 paddocks. We rate each paddock
on a scale of 1 to 10. Since this rating is purely subjective,
the same person should score each time. My scale goes something
like this:

We multiply each score times
the number of acres in the paddock. We add the results to give
a total forage score for the farm for that 10-day period.

Then we plot those totals on
a forage growth graph. (See below.) Connecting the dots for each
10-day period gives us a trend line so we can see where we're
headed. We can predict whether we'll have surplus forage and
have to make hay, or whether we'll be short. By adding 10-day
rainfall totals to the graph, we can easily see how our pastures
respond to moisture.

Tracking forage production like this helps us make the right
decisions for the stock. They respond with better weight gains
and higher conception rates, and they stay healthier on a more
natural diet. Because of the frequent moves, they associate us
with fresh feed and are very docile. Put into a new paddock,
cows graze like gluttons. Their mindful babies learn to do the
same, and grow into aggressive grazers.
—D.S.

Natural Lamb Adds
ProfitsBecause we
don't buy and sell our purebred livestock on the commercial market,
we sacrifice some flexibility. We compensate with sheep and stocker
calves that serve as a buffer against the peaks and valleys of
forage growth. If forage is tight, we sell some stock. If we have
a surplus, we buy more.

Sheep fit beautifully in a well-fenced cattle operation. Since
only about 60 percent of their diet overlaps with cattle, pasture
utilization improves. They can graze with cattle or apart.

Even though our farm is in prime coyote territory, we haven't
had any attacks. Rotating paddocks helps prevent predators from
knowing where and when to expect their prey. Electric fencing
probably discourages them too. We have a Great pyrenees dog, but
feel that our guard donkey might be adequate, alone. Since she
grazes with the sheep, she's certainly less expensive to feed
than the dog.

By managing our pastures better, we've reduced our feed costs
and added stockers and sheep–increasing the livestock we
carry by 50 percent on a weight basis. We've also increased our
profits by not buying fertilizer and lime. (Why encourage more
grass to grow until you can effectively use all that you've got?)

But the greatest contributor to our bottom line comes from adding
value to what we produce. We made a great move when we switched
from commercial cattle to registered Gelbvieh stock. Gelbvieh
are very efficient producers, plus we receive a premium for seedstock.

A new endeavor that holds promise is direct marketing our lamb.
Adding value by processing, packaging and delivering frozen lamb
is more profitable than selling through normal markets. We sell
everything from whole lambs to popular cuts. In a short time,
we have expanded to include our own lean ground beef and shiitake
mushrooms. We also market garlic braids, pork and eggs from other
organic farmers.

Our selling strength is that our lamb is raised in a wholesome,
natural environment, free from all the chemicals that city folks
are concerned about. Having lived in both worlds, we can easily
relate to our urban customers.

Another goal is to help make consumers more aware of where their
food comes from and how it is raised. We believe consumers have
the power to change agriculture with their shopping decisions,
and we want to help them shape the future.
New Attitudes
Thinking about intensive grazing and nature as a model focused
our attention on the land. We were struck by how much of the big
picture we failed to see. Disturbing the soil–both physically
and chemically–had taken its toll.

As our faith in conventional advice plummeted, we began to think
for ourselves. For example, we developed a new attitude about
"pests." We used to agonize over ragweed: It seemed
to appear in all the intensively managed paddocks. But then we
asked ourselves, was it taking over or just filling in bare spots?
We came to realize its roots loosen the soil and its leaf litter
catches water. It is a colonizing plant that prepares a seedbed
for more desirable species. We also found that livestock eat ragweed
when it's young and tender.

Nobody likes flies. But we started asking questions about them
too. Are fly outbreaks caused by stock congregating in their own
wastes too long? Do these pests provide any benefits, such as
breaking down manure and speeding up nutrient cycling? What are
the costs and benefits of a quick-fix fly killer? We decided flies
aren't really the problem: They are just a symptom of poor management.

When we consider questions like these, we look to nature for answers.
Nature teaches us tolerance, patience and a new perspective on
problem solving. We now recognize what Native Americans always
knew: We are just another strand in the web of life, supporting
and supported by the rest of nature's creations.

Reproduced with permission of the
publisher. The New Farm, May/June 1992, p. 14-20.